What You Should Know About Protective Orders in Virginia

Wednesday, October 8th, 2014

* If you are a victim of domestic or sexual violence, please call the Virginia Family Violence and Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-838-8238 or visit this site to find the domestic violence program in your area.*  

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.  We wanted to take this opportunity to highlight top 5 things you should know about protective orders in Virginia (from Community Solutions to Sexual and Domestic Violence’s website):

  1. A protective order is a court order to help you protect yourself, your children and/or other family or household members from someone who is hurting you or causing you fear.
  2. There are 3 types of protective orders: emergency protective orders (last up to 72 hours or if the court is closed, until 5:00 PM of the next court business day), preliminary protective orders (last up to 15 days) and full protective orders (last up to 2 years).
  3. The court where you request a protective order depends on the type of relationship you have (or have had) with the person who is harming or threatening you, where the violence occurred and/or where either you or the person harming you resides.
  4. If you decide a protective order is right for you, do not rely solely on the order to protect you; get to a safe place as soon as you can.
  5. It is against Virginia law for a respondent who is the subject of a protective order to purchase or transport a firearm/gun.  If you are aware of the respondent violating this provision, contact law enforcement immediately…protective orders and guns are a dangerous combination.

Click here to read more about protective orders in Virginia and how to go about obtaining one.

The Community Solutions to Sexual and Domestic Violence website is a joint effort among 5 different statewide organizations, including VPLC, to provide a clearinghouse of information and resources for professionals working to address and prevent sexual and domestic violence in Virginia.

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